GitHub Copilot vs Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf)
Someone typing this already codes daily and is deciding between inline suggestions bolted onto their existing editor and a full agentic coding environment built around multi-file sessions.
The difference that matters
GitHub Copilot starts at $10/user/mo (free tier: 2,000 code completions/mo, 50 chat requests/mo, access to Haiku 4.5/GPT-5 mini, no card) and is built for inline suggestions inside an editor you already use, especially strong for teams already on GitHub, but it falls behind on multi-file refactors where agentic tools are now well ahead. Windsurf starts at $20/mo (Pro, raised from $15/mo in March 2026) and is built around long multi-file agentic sessions in its own editor, with a free tier offering unlimited Tab autocomplete plus a light agentic quota (roughly 25 Flow Actions/month, sources disagree on the exact mechanic), but it's not built for terminal-first workflows.
Side by side
| GitHub Copilot | Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 2,000 code completions/mo, 50 chat requests/mo, access to Haiku 4.5/GPT-5 mini, no card required | Unlimited Tab autocomplete plus a light Devin Local agentic usage quota (reported as roughly 25 Flow Actions/month or 2-3 days of active agentic coding, sources disagree on the exact mechanic), no premium model access |
| Entry paid plan | $10/user/mo | Pro, $20/month (raised from $15/month around March 2026, before the June 2026 Devin Desktop rebrand), unlocks premium/frontier models and a larger daily/weekly Devin Local quota than Free |
| Bills in | not stated | Daily and weekly usage quotas on Devin Local agent actions, not the older prompt-credit system; Tab autocomplete is unmetered on every tier |
Choose GitHub Copilot if
You want inline suggestions inside your existing editor and are mostly writing or completing code line by line, not restructuring whole codebases.
Choose Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) if
You're doing long, multi-file coding sessions where an agent needs to reason across the whole codebase, and you're fine working inside Windsurf's own editor.
Our verdict
GitHub Copilot wins on cost and simplicity for line-by-line suggestions inside your existing setup. Windsurf wins for multi-file agentic sessions, at double the entry price.
What to watch out for
GitHub Copilot's free tier (2,000 completions/mo, 50 chat requests/mo) and $10/user/mo paid tier are both confirmed. Windsurf's $20/mo Pro price (up from $15/mo) is confirmed as of its March 2026 change, and its free-tier agentic quota (roughly 25 Flow Actions/month) is reported inconsistently across sources, so treat that specific number as approximate.
Compare against the rest
Both of these sit in the full Coding & Dev directory, which covers 7 tools.
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